Story+2006-06-06+San+Francisco,+CA

´´Good evening, everybody!...yes, yes, welcome, welcome....Bay Area-residents, I´m told...´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´O Mary Don´t You Weep´´**

´´Thank you....Sam Bardfeld on the fiddle....alright....we got a little folk funk for you....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Johnny 99´´**

´´Yes, yes, alright....so where exactly the fuck are we?....Concord....San Francisco, that´s a long, it´s, it´s another state, right? (chuckles) we were trying to figure that all the way and all we saw was hills, hills (?) hills (chuckles) alright, we´re gonna test you country folks´ vocal abilities right now....uh, a 150-year-old Bob Dylan song (chuckles)....let´s see what you´re made of....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Old Dan Tucker´´**

´´This was originally a gospel song called ´Hands On The Plow´ and uh....it was rewritten in the ´50s, called ´Eyes On The Prize,´ I´ll send this one to Greg and Ginny....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Eyes On The Prize´´**

´´Yes, yes....(tunes his guitar)....alright, this is a song I believe is, uh, some of the details are correct but the general, overall character portrait is bullshit but uh.....uh, that´s what makes it good (chuckles) uh, I was watching ´The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence´ the other night and, uh....I don´t wanna blow the ending for you but Jimmy Stewart tells this long story about how he became a senator and, uh, uh, it´s all based around who shot Liberty Valence and he, uh, he did not so alright (chuckles) actually John Wayne shot Liberty Valence (chuckles) and, uh, but they go through the whole movie and they tell the story to a news, newspaper reporter and, you know, they get the truth out and, uh, the newspaper reporter in the end says ´This is the West and when, uh,´ let me get this right, ´when a legend becomes fact, we print the legend´....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Jesse James´´**

´´Yes, yes....alright, alright....this is a song written in, uh, around the turn of the century...in the mid-1800s when, uh....the Erie Canal was how they got goods up and down through Northeast....considered the Eighth Wonder of the World, a great, great work song and, uh, what I thought originally was one of the few, uh, love songs addressed to a mule but uh.... I´ve since done a lot of research and there´s an entire sub-genre of mule songs....going back to Charlie Poole when, uh....I suspect the low point was ´That Mule, Old Rivers and Me´ by Walter Brennan, that was sort of....that sunk the whole thing, it destroyed the mule-genre....it was the kiss of death to the....to that whole sub-genre of songs but, uh, but I´m Walter Brennan-fan and, uh, uh, here it goes....oh, we need a little (?) assistance on....(?)....here we go (starts the chant) try it out (crowd chants) come on....you are not making Pete proud (chuckles) singalong was his whole thing (chuckles)....go ahead....now, uh, cut the terrible clapping and keep the singing (chuckles)....much better, much better....(crowd keeps chanting) help them out, Sammy....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Erie Canal´´**

´´Thank you....oh yeah....this is a song written in, uh....I guess it was written during, written during the Dustbowl by a guy, uh, Bill and Agnes ´Sis´ Cunningham....and uh....when I was a kid, you know, you´d read about the Dustbowl where thousands of people were....people were swept away from their homes and cast out across the country, it was always something, events like that always felt like things you read about in your history book...but uh....I don´t know (?)....those are types of things you never thought you´d live to see again in your lifetime, but we´ve seen quite a few of them recently....this is, uh....I love this song, it´s a song that takes on the subject with a lot of toughness and humour so....this is called ´Where is my Oklahoma home? It´s blown away´....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´My Oklahoma Home´´**

´´Yes, yes....(?)....alright, this song, and then an old song about the same thing....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Devils & Dust´´**

´´Thank you....Frank Bruno on the bass drum....spotlight that man!....we had our first official show....a gig at the New Orleans Jazz Festival....it´s hard to explain what New Orleans is like, you can´t really get it from the television and from the newspapers, it´s, uh, if you can imagine an American city that´s been emptied of its people and, uh, miles and miles and miles of, of the kind of destruction that, uh, I´ve never seen before, I think the city´s lost close to half its population....and it´s gonna take a long, long time and a lot of care and national attention to help the city get back on its feet, it´s one of the, it´s the cultural soul of the country and if you´re a musician, it´s sacred ground....uh, this was a song written by a guy named Blind Alfred Reed who, uh, wrote this, I think he recorded it the month after the stockmarket crashed way back when and, uh, I kept the first verse and added three others in honor of our president´s visit to New Orleans where, of course, he managed to gut, gut the only agency through political cronyism that´s there to help American citizens in times of great disaster and uh....but....that´s all in a day´s work these days (chuckles) that´s the easy stuff....go ahead, come on, Larry....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?´´**

´´Thank you, thank you, thank you.....yes....we are climbing Jacob´s Ladder....I read up on Jacob the other night, he was sort of always fucking up in God´s eyes and God kept giving him a chance after chance after chance after chance to get it right....I´m not sure what that means....except that there is no free ticket, no car pool lane to where you wanna go....it´s step by step, inch by inch, a rung by a rung, we are climbing Jacob´s Ladder, let´s go...´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Jacob´s Ladder´´**

´´Yes, yes, that´s Curtis King...Cindy Mizelle....Lisa Lowell on the vocals....singing it....yes, yes....there´s no reality show in heaven (chuckles)(?)....that´s a very cryptic saying, my friend, ´Keep doing what you´re doing´....what else would I do? (chuckles) I have to keep doing what I do (chuckles) but uh....alright, this was a song that, uh, that kind of started our whole little adventure up here....which was all sort of a happy accident, you see, it started way back when Frank´s dad was, uh, that´s Frank Bruno Junior (crowd cheers) oh, there you go, young man (chuckles) his Pop taught me my first few chords on the guitar....and, uh, which was tricky because he´d started as an accordionist....and, uh, literally played accordion everytime we´d go over to his, his Pop´s house, he would bust the accordion out and go through his moves and uh....I was like this close to being an accordion player, this close.... that´s how close it was, (?) it would have changed the whole, the whole thing would´ve been different....but then I went over one day and he was playing the guitar and uh....he had on a white t-shirt and I believe he had it on backwards, which I thought was very cool, I wore mine backwards for the next couple of years....black pants and white sneakers and he showed me a few chords on the guitar and sent me home with a folk music book that, uh.... so, uh, yeah (some people cheer) not that the accordion was unappealing....personally, it´s a sexy instrument, in my opinion....(?)(chuckles) but uh....anyway, this was a song we cut first, this is one of those songs that, uh, it gets heard so much that it disappears, it sort of disappears, uh, it´s become such a part of....the everyday fabric that I think sometimes people lose the ability to hear it, certain songs that happens to, and, uh, a beautiful song, it´s probably the most important political protest song of all time, I would guess, I hate to....I don´t even wanna box it in with, I don´t wanna box it in with those terms but, uh, it´s one of those songs that, uh, at the center of it, there´s always a secret, there´s always a secret....one of these days we´ll figure it out but uh....here we go....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´We Shall Overcome´´**

´´(after a few solos on violin etc.)....Let me take the temperature of the audience....(the band stops, the crowd cheers)....not ready, one, two, three, four (the band plays)....let´s try it again, fellas....(the band stops, the crowd cheers)....not ready, one, two, three, four (the band plays)....let´s give ´em one more chance, boys....(the band stops, the crowd cheers) one, two, three, four (the band plays)....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Open All Night´´**

´´Nicky....come on out, Nick....here´s my nephew....you look good.....Joanie....Miss Joanie.... come, darling....come, sweetheart [Joan Baez comes onstage].... (....) Come on, Charles....are they all up out there?....no, they´re not!....there´s people on their asses back here, man.....it´s time for the Concordian asses to rise from the Bay Area seats.... are they free tickets?....the press seats?....this is pathetic, come, I see you, I see you bastards ....let me get your fucking names too (chuckles) Charles, I think you gotta help them out, man....come on, kid (Charles plays his accordion solo)....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Pay Me My Money Down´´**

´´Oh yeah, well done, well done....yes, yes, yes....thank you, thank you, thank you for a lovely evening, thank you, Joan....thank you, darling....thank you, Nicky....you guys got some, you got some good bands up here in the Bay Area and my nephew....yes....yeah, he had the whole thing going....that´s all there is to it, you need, you know, the right clothes and (?)....the rest is the details....alright, I´m gonna send this one out tonight for our friends at the Foodbank of Contra Costa and Solano....and today is the national hunger awareness day being organized by America´s Second Harvest, a national foodbank network (?) and uh....that we need one is a disgrace, of course....it´s such a solvable problem....but....so please on your way out remember the Foodbank of Contra Costa and Solano, they´re out there doing, uh....God´s work....here we go....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Bring ´Em Home´´**

´´(?)....alright....oh, we´re gonna need a little help with this one, this one is, uh, kind of TexMex-polka-ska, uh, I think the Polish moved to Texas and, uh, the accordion went across the border, came back as mariachi music, uh, went to the Caribbean and became ska and somebody dyed their hair and it became, uh, British ska and so, uh, this has something of all those things in it (chuckles) alright....well, we´re gonna need some assistance, of course....but I promise you: we will help you out, we will, but you gotta start it (start the ´na na na´-singalong) let´s hear it (the crowd keeps singing) that´s pretty good....go ahead....oh yes....uh huh....once more - then we´re gonna jump over all you, oh, we´re gonna get you....we are about to jump all over your ass right now....one, two, three (the band starts playing)....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Ramrod´´**

´´Yes, yes, yes, don´t stop now....don´t stop now....we´re just getting warmed up....is the band ready?....are the people ready? (crowd cheers) is the band ready?....let me hear that tempo, Larry....here we go....one, two, one, two, three, four....by a young folk song writer called J.R.Robertson.....(the band or Bruce mess up) wait a minute....(the band stops) train wreck! (the band starts playing again)....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Rag Mama Rag´´**

´´Gimme a little ´Froggie,´ we got a request here, man....come on, man.....alright, this is for you, kid....how old are you?....nine?....this song is 470 years older than you are....(chuckles) ....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´Froggie Went A-Courtin´´**

´´Thank you so much for a lovely evening, thank you.....thanks a lot....now I can say, uh, ´Concord, I´ve been there,´ that´s right, I´ve been there, I´ve done that one, I know where it is....in the middle of them big brown hills somewhere....it´s that mythic land in the middle of those big brown hills, someday I´ll go back, that´s right, someday....that´s right, we´re coming back to this damn place....I can´t tell you when, I don´t wanna make promises, but, goddammit, now that I know where it is.....I´m coming back to this bastard....that´s right.... can´t tell you when (chuckles) this is a song we learned, uh, we learned this when we went down to New Orleans, it´s kind of the theme song of the city, I guess, and we played it with a great deal of trepidation ´cause there´s so many bands that have played this song so great and it´s so deeply ingrained in the identity of the city but I came across a couple of verses that I hadn´t heard sung very much and it sort of explains what we´re doing here tonight and, and what our whole happy project here is about, I wanna first thank the, thank all the wonderful musicians I have here on stage, I really am blessed.....that´s Marty Rifkin on the pedal steel....Charlie Giordano on the keyboards....Cindy Mizelle, lovely Cindy Mizelle on vocals....Curtis King, the beautiful Miss Lisa Lowell....the handsome Mr.Larry Eagle on the drums....Art ´King of rock´n´roll tuba´ Baron....Richie ´The Boss´ La Bamba....Mark ´He scares the children´ Pender, ´Love Man´....´Thin man´ Eddie, Eddie Manion on the saxophone....my blood, Mr. Frank Bruno on the guitar....Sam Bardfeld on the beautiful violin ....the lovely Soozie Tyrell on soulful violin and vocals....Mr. Greg Liszt on the banjo (?) ....that´s right, Jeremy Chatzky on the stand-up bass....the fabulous Marc Antony Thompson on vocals and guitar....I´m going to, uh, I´m gonna plug Marc´s record for a minute, Marc has a great band called Chocolate Genius and the records are great, he´s a great songwriter and singer buy those damn Chocolate Genius-records....(chuckles) yes, this is a, uh, like I said, this kind of explains both what we´re doing, what we´re doing up here and what the evening was all about for us so, uh, I wanna thank you once again....(plays his guitar quietly) not quite close enough for folk (chuckles)....´´
 * 06.06.06 Concord, CA, intro to ´´When The Saints Go Marching In´´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//